Your humble Austin Music Minute maven has been a Holy Wave fan since checking out their 2012 EP The Evil Has Landed, and the following 2013 album Evil Hits. It’s as if all the best raw, crunchy and melodic bits of garage, psych and surf were meant to be BFF’s for life. (And, interestingly…the EP’s cover art has a blurry photo with an oddly familiar scene in it. Sure enough, the band is originally from El Paso – your AMM host’s hometown.)
The second album, Relax (2014), their first recording as a five-piece band, ventured into more trippy realms, and now their third LP, Freaks of Nurture, due for release March 11th through The Reverberation Appreciation Society label, engulfs you in a hazey swirl of twilight dreamtime psych.
Holy Wave is about to embark on an epic European tour throughout March and half of April, with Levitation 2016 on their itinerary upon their return, and then it’s off to play Levitation Vancouver in June. It’s an international whirlwind! Before they’re off, make plans to see Holy Wave at their tour kickoff/album release show tonight at Barracuda, 611 E. 7th St. And what a brilliant line-up for the night: Hidden Ritual, Tele Novella, Lake of Fire, Typical Girls, and DJ Al Lover spinning. All great. Get there around 9 p.m. So recommended.
-Photography by Alison Scarpulla.
